BofA: The Oil Crash Is Kicking Off One of the Largest Wealth Transfers In Human History

 Economists are still hotly debating whether the oil crash has been a net positive for advanced economies. Optimists argue that cheap oil is a good thing for consumers and commodity-sensitive businesses, while pessimists point to the hit to energy-related investment and possible spillover into the financial system. A new note from Francisco Blanch at Bank of America Merrill Lynch, however, …

Ian Sample – Stephen Hawkings: Most threats to humans come from science and technology, warns Hawking

The human race faces one its most dangerous centuries yet as progress in science and technology becomes an ever greater threat to our existence, Stephen Hawking warns. The chances of disaster on planet Earth will rise to a near certainty in the next one to ten thousand years, the eminent cosmologist said, but it will take more than a century …

David Haggith – Epocalypse Soon: The Great Economic Collapse is Happening

I use the term “epocalypse” to name the last days of the global economy as we know it — a global economic collapse of biblical proportion. It is economic, epochal, an apocalypse that will change the world and a collapse ” all in one word that sounds the right size for what I’m talking about. Call it the “Great Collapse” …

Bill Holter – More Market Instability? The Highly Leveraged Nature of our Financial System is Teetering

This week shapes up as one which could go down in the history books! Markets last week were tumultuous from weak equities, illiquid credit markets, FOREX markets in disarray and commodities hitting the skids …yet the Federal Reserve is intent on hiking rates? Have they taken this position because the markets are strong? Or because the economy …anywhere on the …

Wall Street Front Group Pleads for Government Help in New York Times OpEd By Pam Martens and Russ Martens

If you live outside of New York City, you’ve never heard of the Partnership for New York City. Even if you live inside New York City, unless you’re part of the black tie cocktail circuit, you’ve still never heard of the group. So when the New York Times gave a chunk of its opinion pages on Monday to Wylde as …

Psychologist studies the emotional disconnect between our present and future selves

A UCLA social psychologist has found that we think of future selves as different people, which could explain why many of us don’t save enough for retirement. So Merrill Lynch, for one, has launched a web feature which “ages” your photo as you ponder how much to save. Credit: iStock A UCLA social psychologist has found that we think of …